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Arcane Mishap

by Steel Claw

We reconvened in the central room, by the teleporter we guessed lead to Varunmund's core. Murg pulled out a copper coin and whispered to himself before tossing it into the liquid weave.

The teleportation this time took longer than expected, and suddenly we could see images and flashes of other teleportation spots. The weave had bent and flexed, and when it spit us out we were in a new room, hopefully in the tower. It was, circuits and pipes running along the wall down a hallway. Nearby a kind of metal panel with lights blinked to draw our attention. It was a communication device for the Varunmund intelligence: it filled us in that we were on the core's floor, but far from the core itself. And notably, the boneclaw is here as well.

Murg led us down the hallway. Something triggered, and spheres of force engulfed each of us. Above, metal spouts charged and crackled with energy as they charged up. As Steel crouched down and tried to examine the jets, Murg used his gavel to smash through his sphere of force. But it was too late -- the jets sparked to life, and lightning lit up the room. The magic harmlessly bounced off of the spheres: Murg out in the open took the bolt of electricity full-force. When the energy dispersed and the trap no longer active, Yrna tended to our bugbear's wounds.

The room to our left was separated by a pit twenty feet deep. A shimmering blue footprint floated in midair, and the pit led off to another exit beneath. Theo confirmed an invisible walkway; out of caution Steel had the Claw walk across the walkway. Ten feet forward -- nearly across -- and it fell down into the pit. A magic prevented the arcanomechanical device from clambering back up. Murg helped fish it out with his grappling hook. With more confidence Theo strode out onto the invisible walkway. He made good progress, but stepping on a particular tile triggered some magic. A voice spoke to the wizard and terrified him.

Worried for the wizard, Steel cautioned the walkway to fetch Theo. Reaching out, fear gripped Theo and almost sent the two of them over. Panicky Theo cast levitate on himself for safety. But the chamber had more magic: gravity reversed and we were flung to the ceiling. Seconds more, then it reset and we fell towards the bottom of the pit. By the gods we both managed to land an arm on the invisible ledge. Steel was done with this room, pulling himself up and jumping towards the other side. Yet gravity reversed again: the cat was thrown to the ceiling. Upside-down he crawled towards the other side of the room. Success! Slowly, the room's magic allowed him to reach the ground safely.

Steel cursed loudly for several minutes. "Why in the **** nine **** hells did I decide to learn ****ing magic."

The rest of the party crossed with a little less grace, but all in one piece.

The metal door on this side of the room held a pantry, stocked for a least a week and a half. While Steel munched angrily on jerky, Murg searched a nearby trapdoor to find coins and keys, and something written in the giants' language. Theo, still shaking off his fear, read the note aloud: "Cornelius, this is where the maintenance access key. This is the sixth time time this week someone's lost it. -Lester".

We could spot the room below, via the pit. It had liquid weave that was frozen and crystallized. To test, Steel fired off a bolt: it exploded into dust when the bolt collided. We left it for now and turned back down the path to the other room unexplored.

This one was small, with mythicite tiling breaking the room in half. Murg cleared the fifteen foot gap with his super-sentient strength. The rest of us however did not have that luxury. With his arcane turner, Theo was able to crack the tile into ice and then into liquid weave. It split as he imagined it so, allowing us to pass. Next up was a turn, then a room with several statues: two armed minotaurs and two empty pedestals. The statues looked as if they were carved out of unmelting ice.

As Theo stepped into the room, a high-pitched whine filled the air. The statues cracked to life and stepped towards us. Steel reacted first, placing himself in front of Theo and shattering the pair. The ice-statue-minotaur on his left responded first. Murg's gavel determined the constructs were particularly susceptible to bludgeoning. Theo's firebolt ascertained that fire was much less effective. Izol's eldritch flame added force damage to the list of good choices. Then there was a rumbling in the floor: once, twice, up to four times. The wall behind us burst as the third minotaur entered the fray, threatening Yrna and Theo.

Theo whipped out the attuner and selected "fire". The wrong choice: a piercing sound ripped pierced the air stunning everyone. When we came to, Yrna was trying to compel the stone minotaur. Using stoneshape she managed to rip a piece of the minotaur out of its chest and crash the spike back into her.

Steel panicked, running to Yrna's defense and dropping the Claw. "Shield them," and an aura of force fell on the rest of his party. Murg took care of the statue to the north. Argus then Izol ran south through Steel to take care of the last one. As things calmed down Yrna tended to each of us.

After the fight, Murg found some treasure. Included were two strange brews; when shared, we each recovered health and mana. The mixture was unstable, and vanished after the last of us took a sip. Then he foreged ahead, calling back to us when our cleric found a marble door. Nearby was an etching of Mt. Celestia and a coatl, divine snakes that sport wings.

We took a ten minute break, partly for Theo to brush up on his celestial, partly to take a much-needed breather. "Produce the horizon of home," he recited. We discussed, pondering several ideas. The agreement was on Murg, who cast guiding bolt. The marble door shimmered then faded, revealing the glimpse of a coatl in flight on the plane Elysium. Then the vision faded.

ANAME's Laboratory

The room inside was a splendid lab.

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Arcane Mishap

ANAME's Laboratory

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